Here
by oOAshleyOo
Summary: He just hugged me, because nothing else could have been said or done, and whispered softly in my ear, "I'm here."


**A/N: Hey, this is Ash. This is my first story that I've posted on here, so please review! Thanx, guys, and check out my friend's account, iloveyouTHISmuch16, since she will probably be uploading a version of this story, except in someone else's POV... Enjoy!**

I was eating at a plaza with my friends Mitchie, Peggy, and Lola, who were visiting my hometown in California for a week. It was around sunset, and we were sharing a table outside of the mall, and since we were extremely bored, we were all sharing 5 random facts about each other. Soon, it was my turn.

'Well, I love the smell of rain, I love music, I am deathly afraid of heights, I am addicted to the computer, and I've.." I started..

"Liked Barron since sixth grade." Mitchie muttered under her breath, covering it with a cough.

I could feel my cheeks flushing madly at the mention of Barron James. I threw Mitchie a look, and she grinned at me, covered her mouth and started giggling.

Peggy and Lola looked over at me with surprise.

"REALLY!" Peggy squeaked excitedly.

"No way, Cait!" Lola exclaimed.

I looked down at my flats in embarrassment. I slowly nodded my head.

Mitchie then began explaining to our friends about my long-lasting crush on Barron.

In timidity, I looked at the scene around us. There were parents eating their burgers and salads, while their young children dashed around them, swinging their arms like air planes, and screaming with glee. There were teenage couples holding hands, and eating their ice cream from the local ice cream shop. I saw one of the couples sit down and begin to eat their ice cream. Suddenly, the boy looked down at his girlfriend. His eyes were gleaming and happiness was flooding their depths. He pulled her into a bear hug. The young teenage girl looked up at her boyfriend and gave him a wide smile. Even from far away, I could tell that they really liked each other.

I wish someone would look at me like that, I thought to myself. My heart sunk a little. That will never happen. Barron doesn't even know that I exist.

And suddenly, as if on cue, I spotted Barron. He was sitting down on the other side of the plaza, and he was gazing down at his phone, clearly immersed in the conversation he was having. I could feel my heart beating extremely fast.

I looked back at my friends. They were deep into their conversation about shopping. I softly told them that I would be back. They nodded without looking up.

I rose from my chair and started making my way towards Barron.

I waved at him.

"Ba-.." I called out, but then stopped when I saw what was happening. My heart slowly sunk to my feet. A tear even rolled down my cheek.

A blonde girl about our age with immense beauty had stepped out of the store that Barron was sitting next to. She saw Barron and beamed at him. Barron's face erupted into a grin at the sight of her, and he walked up to her side. She gave him a hug, and Barron entwined his fingers with hers. They strolled away from the mall, hand in hand, but my feet were rooted to the ground. I felt my heart erupt in pain.

When I finally got myself to move back to my table, it was dark. I slowly sunk into my chair. Mitchie, Peggy, and Lola looked at me. They could tell that I had tears in my eyes.

Mitchie eyed me with concern.

"Caitlyn, what just happened?" she questioned. When I didn't respond, she quietly said, "Cait?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. A torrent of tears came to my eyes, and I knocked my seat to the floor.

"I... I have to go!" I replied as I sprinted away from them.

When I reached the park, rain started pouring down from the sky. The droplets fell onto my face and covered my face in water. The rain mixed with my tears, and a watery, salty taste filled my mouth. I sank into the cool grass, and began to sob uncontrollably. The cold surrounded me, and it became very chilly. But I didn't realize it, because I was enveloped in so much sadness. My body erupted into shivers. I curled into a ball, and rocked back and forth with tears streaming down my face.

Barron doesn't like me. He doesn't, and I don't think he ever will, I admitted to myself.

The last thought that came to my mind was: Why?

Then everything went black.

A Couple Hours Later

My eyelids slowly opened. I then remembered what had just occured. My heart sunk a little. A tear coursed down my face. I shook my head to try and clear my mind of sad thoughts. I groggily surveyed my surroundings. I was on a couch, and a warm blanket was thrown over me. There was a desk, and I was residing in an immaculately clean room, with a nicely made bed against the wall. There was an electric guitar leaning against the bed post, and there were posters of musicians lining the walls. I pulled the blanket off of myself and wondered where I was. I looked down at my hands. My fingers were slightly tinged blue, and they were shaking. I looked at my arm. It was covered in a black sweatshirt. This sweatshirt isn't mine but it certainly looks familiar... I thought to myself. I gazed down at the words imprinted on the hoodie. In big white lettering, there were two words printed on the sweatshirt: Connect 3. At the same moment when I realized whose sweatshirt it was, a head covered in a mop of curly brown hair that I recognized popped in through the door way. He looked over at me, and a smile filled his face. His bright auburn eyes were filled with relief. It was Nate Black, the guy who I'd been friends with for longer than I remembered. I returned his smile to the best of my ability, and Nate entered the room.

Nate plopped himself down next to me, and gazed at me.

"Hey." he said softly.

'Hey." I replied with as much happiness that I could muster.

I looked over at Nate. Concern was covering his features, and his irises were a fathomless, deep brown, like liquid chocolate. He stared at me, his eyes overflowing with sadness. He gave me the same look that the teenage boy gave his teenage girlfriend by the ice cream and frozen yogurt shop.

"Caitlyn, you've been crying." Nate told me as he softly stroked the pad of his thumb over my cheek. "What happened?"

I shook my head when the previous events filled my mind. "Nothing, nothing happened." I responded.

"No, something happened. It's me, tell me, you know you can trust me." Nate said.

I peered up at Nate. His eyes were scrutinizing my complexion, probably trying to figure out what had happened. I sighed. I couldn't lie to him. I couldn't lie to Nate. He was, and has always been there for me. I took in a deep breath, and explained everything that had happened.

As I poured out my story, Nate's face turned as hard as stone at the part where Barron left with the Blonde Beauty. I glanced down at his hands. They were clenched, and Nate's fingers were pressed so hard into his palms, that his fist was turning white.

Nate looked at me with an angry, concerned face on his normally smiling complexion.

"I never should have let him hurt you like that." Nate said softly.

I shook my head.

"Nate. It's okay, he didn't.."

Adam shook his head furiously. I even saw a tear roll down his face.

"No it's not, it's not okay." He told me.

Suddenly, Nate wrapped his arms around me and pulled me towards him, and enveloped me in a big hug. My eyes widened in surprise. Normally, I was the one that gave the hugs. A moment later, my arms dropped down to my sides, and went limp. I felt the tears come to my eyes, and I knew that I couldn't hold them in this time. I began sobbing, and Nate hugged me tightly, and murmured two words in my ear.

"I'm here."


End file.
